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If you haven’t watched the movie, go watch it now. Because seldom does Bollywood make so much sense! 😛 This post is about the music in the movie that has caught my fantasy.
Here are the hilarious lyrics.

The song takes a hilarious take at men who are not able to please women. A woman is expressing her sexuality by asking her partner to perform better and she is also making jabs and taunts at him which will definitely bring a smile to your face. It is amazing how they have tried to capture the lesser talked about side of sexuality which is a woman’s perspective in this song. It is the female gaze coming into action who demands just another basic right which is more than often either taboo-ed or forgotten by half of the world. The word play will tell you, she isn’t afraid of resorting to other means to please herself since she has been searching for a very long time and no one has come up to the mark.

Like this:

Going through the channel ‘Hindi Kavita’ on YouTube today, I came across another gem. Credits again to Varun Grover. This was one of the poems he wanted to make into a song in the movie ‘Masaan’, but for some reason couldn’t. It is beautiful nevertheless. If somebody could find/give an english translation, that would be amazing.

Hindi Transcription:

Ignore the spelling mistakes, if any, this is my first time typing in Hindi 😛

Like this:

Raat Raazi by Prateek Kuhad – Soulful, beautiful and so simple yet touching. If you haven’t heard any songs by him I strongly recommend listening to it.

Tuntuna by Shamoon Ismail – I really wonder why singers like him don’t get enough praise. This is again an amazing song with an unusual fusion of punjabi folk music and blues. Give it a try. The lines will steal your heart.

Matargashti – This song from Imtiaz Ali’s upcoming movie is peppy and will make you stand on your feet and shake a little. The playfulness in the lyrics is aptly portrayed in the video of the song!

Agar Tum Saath Ho – Ladies and Gentleman, we have the best romantic song of the year right here! Yes, it is true! A. R. Rahman has worked his magic once again! 🙂

Khoya Khoya Chand (The Bartender Mix) – The video has the cast of Shaitan. It is a “jazzy” remix of the old song by the same name but if you liked Hawa Hawai, you will definitely like this. 🙂

For an assignment we had to script edit and present shows that could be aired over Community Radio. We (Aditi S., Shreya K. and me) took up the topic of misogyny in India and framed a fictional story which revolved around a journalist named Minky who travels around different cities in India and confronts the various faces of misogyny and patriarchy. We called it Radio SASS. Meanwhile do listen to the advertisements we made and interspersed in the show. These ads are basically a sarcastic take on issues like honour killing, female infanticide, patriarchy, etc. by introducing fictional products which can cure a woman and make her the ‘ideal’ woman.

Today I will be translating the song “Tu Kisi Rail Si” from one of my most loved movies: Masaan. Coincidentally this one is also sung by Swanand Kirkire and the lyrics are from a poem by Dushyant Kumar. have also taken help from Varun Grover’s translation of it.

The lyrics go like:

Tu kisi rail si guzarti haiMain kisi pull sa thartharaata hoon.

You cross like a train and I am your bridge.
And when you cross you reverberate in me.

Tu bhale ratti bhar na sunti hoMain tera naam budbudaata hoon

Even if you don’t pay heed,
I keep murmuring your name.

Kisi lambe safar ki raaton meinTujhe alaav sa jalaata hoon.

On those cold nights of long journeys,
I burn your memories for warmth.

I have always been intrigued by songs in other languages. When one of my friends translated a Malayalam song (Kerala, India) into Hindi, I realised how much is lost in translation. The film makers had not even made the effort to translate it in the true sense when they dubbed into Hindi. They just used whatever would conveniently fit the new tune. Even though what I am going to write further is unrelated, this was something that inspired me to begin a new series: to translate Hindi songs into English and to see what I can make of them. It’s more of an exercise for myself.

(P.S.: the Malayalam song that my friend translated was “Dil hai chhota sa”, I don’t remember the Malayalam version now, but it sure was one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard)

The song that I chose for part 1 was “Monta Re” from Lootera. Even though the song is a mix of Hindi and Bengali, it’s mostly Hindi. So here it goes…

I just realised everything got lost in translation. It can never live up to its true essence. Nevertheless listen to the song because the music is beautiful! I guess this series will have to end here itself. 😛